Post-monitoring dialogue with North Macedonia
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 29 January 2026 (8th sitting) (see Doc. 16317, report of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations
and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring
Committee), co-rapporteurs: Ms Sibel Arslan and Mr Joseph O'Reilly). Text adopted by the Assembly on
29 January 2026 (8th sitting).
1. North Macedonia joined the Council
of Europe in 1995. Until 2000, it was subject to the full monitoring procedure.
By means of
Resolution 1213 (2000) “Honouring
of obligations and commitments by ‘the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia’”,
Note the
Parliamentary Assembly decided to close the full monitoring procedure and
engage in a post-monitoring dialogue on “the issues referred to
in paragraph 13 [of
Resolution 1213 (2000)]
or any other issue arising from the obligations of Macedonia as
a member State of the Council of Europe”. Since 2000, progress in
addressing these outstanding concerns has been systematically assessed
by the Assembly and its Committee on the Honouring of Obligations
and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring
Committee), in particular in Assembly
Resolutions 1949 (2013) “Post-monitoring
dialogue with ‘the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’” and 2304 (2019)
“Post-monitoring dialogue with North Macedonia”.
2. The Assembly refers to
Resolution 2304 (2019),
in which it had acknowledged the progress made by North Macedonia
in the fields of democracy, the rule of law, human rights protection
and relations with neighbouring countries. However, it resolved
not to close the post-monitoring dialogue and to assess, in its
next report, the progress made particularly in the following areas:
the further consolidation of the sustainability and functioning
of democratic institutions, the independence of the judiciary, the
fight against corruption, the consolidation of the electoral framework
and the pursuit of inclusive policies aimed at securing the rights
of minorities (including the Roma community).
3. The last parliamentary elections took place on 8 May 2024.
They were won by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation
– Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) party,
after seven years in opposition. On the same day, following a second
round of elections, the VMRO-DPMNE candidate, Ms Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova,
was elected as the first female Head of State of North Macedonia.
On 23 June 2024, the parliament approved a new government led by
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, backed by a coalition of the
VMRO-DPMNE party, the Albanian VLEN Coalition and the ZNAM (For Our
Macedonia) party. Local elections took place in two rounds, on 19
October and 2 November 2025. VMRO-DPMNE candidates won in the majority
of municipalities, including Skopje.
4. The Assembly welcomes the swift establishment of the coalition
government and its demonstrated political will and commitment to
fully honour the commitments and obligations reflected in
Resolution 2304 (2019),
as confirmed by its continued co-operation with Council of Europe
bodies, including the Monitoring Committee and the European Commission
for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission).
5. The 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections were observed
by ad hoc committees of the Assembly for the observation of elections,
which concluded that the elections had been competitive and well run
and that fundamental freedoms, including media freedom, had been
respected. The local elections of 19 October 2025 were observed
by a mission of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of
the Council of Europe, which concluded that the elections had been
well organised.
6. Nevertheless, the Assembly notes that several key recommendations
from the Venice Commission and the Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) remain unimplemented, particularly with regard
to campaign rules, access to the media and the allocation of State
funding. It reiterates that, in a democratic State, it is crucial
that the legal framework remains conducive to the holding of democratic
elections. Therefore, the Assembly urges the authorities to reform,
as a matter of priority, the Electoral Code and other relevant electoral
laws, by implementing the outstanding recommendations of the Venice
Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR.
7. The Assembly welcomes the measures taken and envisaged by
the authorities to reform the judiciary and prosecution services.
In particular, it welcomes the steps taken to increase transparency
in the work of the Judicial Council, the recruitment of new judges
and prosecutors and the introduction of the Automated Court Case
Management Information System (ACCMIS) and other digital case management
tools. However, the Assembly remains concerned about the low level
of perceived judicial independence and the numerous allegations
of the politicisation of the judiciary. It is also concerned about
the judiciary’s outdated infrastructure and its insufficient human
and financial resources. It stresses that reforming the judiciary
and prosecution services should be a priority and that more financial
and human resources are needed to make them fully operational. It
urges the authorities to address these issues without delay.
8. The Assembly welcomes the government’s work on the draft laws
on the Judicial Council, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the
Council of Public Prosecutors, as well as its co-operation with
the Venice Commission on these matters. It calls on the authorities
to adopt the draft legislation as soon as possible, taking into
account the recommendations included in the Venice Commission’s
Opinions Nos. 1242/2025 (CDL-AD(2025)026) and 1259/2025 (CDL-AD(2025)036).
In particular, the Assembly urges the authorities to implement the
Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)’s long-standing recommendation
to remove the minister of justice from the Judicial Council.
9. The Assembly welcomes the measures undertaken by the authorities
with a view to preventing and combating corruption. It takes note
of GRECO’s decision of 1 December 2023 to close the Fourth Evaluation Round
on the prevention of corruption in respect of members of parliament,
judges and prosecutors (Second Addendum to the Second Compliance
Report) and notes that, out of 19 recommendations, North Macedonia has
satisfactorily implemented 14, while 4 remaining recommendations
have been partly implemented and one recommendation – concerning
the minister of justice’s ex officio membership
in the Judicial Council – has not been implemented. In March 2025,
GRECO also closed its Fifth Evaluation Round on preventing corruption and
promoting integrity in central governments (top executive functions)
and law-enforcement agencies, in which it formulated 23 recommendations.
GRECO concluded that 17 recommendations had been satisfactorily implemented
and that 6 had been partly implemented (Addendum to the Second Compliance
Report).
10. Despite this progress, the Assembly is concerned about numerous
allegations of widespread corruption throughout the public sector,
as well as the lack of effective measures to combat this phenomenon.
It calls on the authorities to address these concerns as a matter
of priority, in particular by:
10.1 fully
implementing GRECO’s outstanding recommendations;
10.2 taking concrete steps to investigate and prosecute corruption
offences;
10.3 amending the Criminal Code in order to remove the 2023
amendments that reduced criminal responsibility for certain corruption
offences;
10.4 providing effective and dissuasive sanctions for corruption
offences and in cases of conflicts of interest;
10.5 reinforcing the resources of the State Commission for
Prevention of Corruption and of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for
Prosecuting Organised Crime and Corruption;
10.6 adopting comprehensive legislation to protect whistle-blowers,
in line with European standards.
11. The Assembly acknowledges that North Macedonia is a country
with a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multiconfessional character,
which fosters and implements a culture and mentality of “living
together”. In particular, it welcomes the country’s long-standing
commitment to addressing the human rights issues faced by the Roma
community. This commitment is evident in the adoption of the national
Strategy for Inclusion of Roma (2022-2030), as well as in the progress
made in improving civil registration and access to education for the
Roma community.
12. Nevertheless, some issues still need to be resolved, such
as reforming the “balancer” mechanism concerning access to employment
in the public sector, applying the Law on the Use of Languages and respecting
the rights of people belonging to the Bulgarian ethnic minority.
There are also outstanding concerns affecting the Roma community,
including environmental risks such as air and waste pollution, and
inadequate housing conditions due to lack of access to clean water,
sanitation and waste removal. Therefore, the Assembly invites the
authorities to address these concerns without delay.
13. The Assembly regrets that, thus far, the parliament has been
unable to reach a compromise on the “French proposal”, which would
involve including a reference to the Bulgarian ethnic minority in
the preamble to the constitution. This is a prerequisite for progress
in the negotiation process for accession to the European Union.
The Assembly invites all political forces to reach an agreement
on this matter.
14. The Assembly notes that over 30 judgments of the European
Court of Human Rights concerning North Macedonia are still to be
implemented and calls on the authorities to implement them fully
and swiftly. Priority should be given to the X
v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia judgment,
which concerns the lack of legislation on the conditions and procedures
for transgender people to change their sex on birth certificates, and
the Elmazova and Others v. North Macedonia judgment,
which concerns discrimination against Roma pupils due to their segregation
in State-run schools.
15. The Assembly is concerned about the European Committee for
the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (CPT)’s findings regarding the numerous allegations of
ill-treatment of people deprived of their liberty by the police,
as well as the worrying situation in North Macedonia’s prisons. This
situation is characterised by physical ill-treatment of prisoners
by prison staff, prolonged isolation of challenging prisoners, high
levels of interprisoner violence, unhygienic and unsafe conditions,
pervasive staff corruption and favouritism, and inadequate healthcare
provision. The Assembly welcomes the authorities’ commitment to
resolving these problems, as well as the measures recently taken
to reform the prison system and improve the material conditions
in Idrizovo Prison. It urges the authorities to implement the CPT’s recommendations
without delay, in co-operation with the Council of Europe Development
Bank and other stakeholders.
16. Against this background, the Assembly resolves to close the
post-monitoring dialogue with North Macedonia and to follow developments
in the country with regard to pluralist democracy, the rule of law
and human rights in the framework of its periodic reviews. It invites
the Monitoring Committee to devote one of its future periodic reviews
to North Macedonia in order to evaluate progress with regard to
the unresolved issues such as the reform of the electoral framework,
the judiciary and the prosecution services, combating corruption, the
pursuit of inclusive policies aimed at securing the rights of minorities
and poor conditions in detention centres.
